december 2023 workshop now open for sign ups.
Why Attend?
Being a parent is rewarding, but it can also be challenging and demanding. BrightSparks has a range of free* and accessible courses and Master Classes for parents and carers to help them to develop a range of skills to support children and young people’s wellbeing. Our Master classes cover a series of important subject areas, all of which will help you to build and strengthen relationships and develop your confidence in meeting the many challenges that parents face.
These sessions will provide practical solutions and positive strategies to use with your family. Taught by sector experts, these friendly and accessible sessions provide a comfortable and safe environment to learn and grow your skills across a range of areas.
Course overview
Session 1: Relationship building
Session 2: Developmental stages
Session 3: Styles of parenting
Session 4: Trauma and attachment
Session 5: Managing challenging behaviour and negotiating boundaries
Session 6: Developing Social and Emotional Resilience/Intelligence
Session 7: Reflection and next steps (peer support session)
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Description Child Development -
Why attend:
This master class will help parents gain more knowledge about and help prepare for the developmental stages from childhood to adolescence.
*(relevant to parents/carers of children and young people age 5 - 16)
In this session we look at the importance of personal, social, emotional, physical and cognitive development and how this can impact on behaviour.
Children’s needs change as they get older, and understanding these needs will help you to better understand your child.
Practical and supportive strategies will be shared to help you to understand and support your child through these developmental stages.
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This master class will look at the causes and impact of developmental trauma. It will focus on attachment styles in children and young people and will cover common issues for children with attachment difficulties. I will also offer supportive strategies for dealing with trauma.
In this session we will begin by defining and understanding the developmental impact of trauma. We will look at how trauma may impact on attachment and we will provide strategies and support to help you to become a trauma informed family. -
Many children and young people have emotional behaviour which can become challenging, especially when it happens frequently or repetitively or it is harmful to the child, the parent or other people. This session will focus on strategies to support you to understand what can trigger behaviours.
In this session we will focus on what challenging behaviour, what it is and why behaviour is important. We will look at what influences behaviour and will share de-escalation strategies to help calm ourselves and others. We will focus on modelling positive behaviours and managing and understanding our own reaction.
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Healthy boundaries help children and young people to feel safe. This session will enable parents and carers to use negotiations processes with with children and young people. It will empower parents to offer them choices and to allow them to understand the consequences.
In this session we will focus on why boundaries are needed and are important. We will look at how to negotiate boundaries using strategies like the steps of negotiation template. We will discuss the value of creating Family Agreements. Family Agreements are a great way to start a conversation together to negotiate a positive solution.
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In this session we will look at what stress and anxiety is and how it can impact on children and young peoples lives. We will focus on understanding potential stressors, signs of stress and strategies to promotive positive mental wellbeing.
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In this session we will share the 4 types of parenting. We will consider our own parenting type and reflect on where this may have come from. We wil focus on the impact of the different types of parenting on young people.
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This session will provide a whole family approach to developing emotional resilience. It will focus on what it looks like in young people, how to cultivate resilience and strategies for developing emotional resilience in children and young people.
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Strategies for managing anger.
Positive Futures Parenting Support Programme Outline
The Positive Futures course is a 10 week evidence-based parenting programme for parents/carers of children and young people between the ages of 5-11. The sessions are two hours per week, either on a morning or early evening and the programme consists of ten sessions.
The course equips parents and carers with the practical skills and social support networks to help them support their children/young people’s social, emotional and educational development.
The key outcomes of the Positive Futures course are:
Improved parent/carer self-confidence;
Greater ability to set routines and boundaries;
Greater understanding of a child’s emotional and development needs at different ages;
Improved self-awareness/emotional intelligence;
Reduced caregiver stress;
Improved relationships.
The course has two main aims:
To improve relationships and communication between children and their families; and
To improve children’s behaviour at home, at school and in the wider community.
To this end, the objectives of the course are to provide parents/carers with skills and strategies to:
Nurture their children by encouraging them and listening to them;
Provide appropriate structure and boundaries for their children; and
Take care of themselves so that they have more energy for their job of parenting, have less stress and can also model self-care to their children.
Children feel better when they are understood, when they have parents/carers who are able to set authoritative boundaries, and when their parents/carers value themselves.
The course is supported by a comprehensive, high quality resource pack, containing written and DVD material, so each session is interesting and engaging. Practical resources are underpinned by accessible background theory and we steer clear of powerpoint in favour of group discussions.
An additional course will also be run and the location will be determined by need. The sessions are run by two experienced and skilled facilitators, Katie Simpson, Director of Learning and Development, BrightSparks CIC and Christine Shipley, Learning and Development Associate.
Please note, this course is for adults only and, unfortunately, we are unable to provide childcare for learners.
Course Tutors
The sessions will be run by our experienced and skilled facilitators:
Katie Simpson, Director of Learning and Development, BrightSparks CIC
Christine Shipley, Learning and Development Associate, BrightSparks CIC
Sara Lovelady - Associate Tutor, Brightsparks CIC.
Important information
It is expected that parents attend at least 8 of the 10 sessions to complete the course.
You must be a resident of the City of York in order to attend this course.
This course is for adults only and, unfortunately, we are unable to provide childcare for learners.
Please be aware that places on the course are limited to between 12 and 15 parents per course and we are prioritising those who have not been on a BrightSparks parenting course in the past.
Both parents are unable to attend a course at the same time. If you are interested in a future parenting course for both parents please email: enquiries@brightsparkscic.org